I've got two young-ish females that are getting close to breeding size: a 1250 gram 2008 girl that has suddenly become an eating MACHINE and a 1080 gram 2007 female who's a bit more wishy-washy about it (only mice, and sometimes she skips a week just for fun.)

Now, I realize there's still a few months left in the summer/early autumn, and a lot can happen... but increasingly it looks like I'm going to wind up with a young animal that's up to size and an older animal that isn't.

So let's just pretend for a second that that's really what's going to happen: that come November, I'll have a 1600 gram 2008 and a 1300 gram 2007.

What would you do in that case? Breed the 2008 and let the 2007 keep growing? Breed them both? Or give them both an extra year and let them hit 2500 grams, and see if the squeeze out some 7-8 egg clutches?